Sheepsfoot type earth compacting wheel



April 11, 1967 O. G. BARNUM ETAL SHEEPSFOOT TYPE EARTH COMPACTING WHEEL Filed Jan. 11, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. Orvilie G. Barnum Fred J. Caron BY MC m/ZZFJQAW April 11, 1967 BARNUM ETAL 3,313,222

SHEEPSFOOT TYPE EARTH COMPACTING WHEEL Filed Jan. 11, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent C 3,313,222 SHEEPSFOOT TYPE EARTH (IQMPACTHNG WHEEL Orviile G. Barnum, South San Francisco, and Fred J- Caron, Citrus Heights, Calitl, assignors to Pactor Corporation, West Sacramento, Calif, a corporation of California Filed Jan. 11, 1965, Ser. No. 424,712 1 Claim. (Cl. 94--50) This invention relates in general to wheels or rollers of the well-known sheepsfoot type, and which are used in self propelled or trail behind implements to compact the initially loose earth of roadways, dams, airport landing strips, or the like.

Such wheels or rollers usually comprise a solid-face drum from which the sheepsfoot elements project in somewhat closely spaced relation. With such an arrangement, there is a tendency for earth to accumulate and pack on the face of the drum between the sheepsfoot elements and which accumulation-if not eliminated prevents the desired penetration of such elements into the loose earth being compacted. This requires the use of cleaners or scrapers to engage the surface of the drum to keep the same clean, although with considerable power consumption.

If is, therefore, the major object of the present invention to provide a sheepsfoot compacting wheel or roller of open construction and arranged so that most of the loose earth picked up by the rotating wheel will discharge of itself from said wheel. While cleaning members are provided in connection with the wheel to prevent any build-up of sticky mud or clay thereon, such members do not actually contact any art of the wheel itself and hence do not impose a power-consuming drag on the wheel. Also, there is no material wear on the cleaning members such as now requires their constant adjustment or replacement due to their metal-to-metal contact.

An additional object of this invention is to provide an earth compacting wheel, of open construction as above, wherein the sheepsfoot elements are mounted on rings rather than on the face of a drum as heretofore conventional.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sheepsfoot compacting wheel which is designed for ease and economy of manufacture.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a practical, reliable, and durable sheepsfoot compacting wheel and one which is exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the improved self-cleaning sheepsfoot compacting wheel or roller, taken substantially on line 11 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a somewhat enlarged sectional plan of the Wheel, taken on line 2 2 of FIG. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings and to the characters of reference marked thereon, the improved sheepsfoot type, earth compacting wheel or roller, indicated generally at 1, comprises a central heavy disc 2 provided with a circular bore 3 of a size to receive and seat on the bearing-enclosing housing or hub 4 of an axle unit 5; the disc 2 then engaging against a backing flange 6 on the hub 4 and being detachably secured thereto by bolts 7.

A certain distance laterally inward from the disc 2, wheel 1 is provided with a band or ring 8 of the same 3,313,222 Patented Apr. 11, 1967 exterior diameter as the disc 2, and of a raidal width such that it will pass over the flange 6 without interference. Radial gussets 9 connect the disc 2 and band 8 at evenly spaced points thereabout.

Disposed radially out some distance from and concentric with the disc 2 are a plurality of laterally spaced foot-mounting rings 16 of somewhat deep and hence unyielding nature radially of the roller. Two of these rings are alined transversely with the disc 2 and band 8, while a third ring is disposed laterally inward from the first named rings as shown in FIG. 2.

Earth tampering feet 11 of taper form, and sheepsfoot type, are secured on and project outwardly from the peripheral edges of each of the rings 10 in evenly spaced relation thereabout; the tamping feet 11 on adjacent rings being staggered, circumferentially of the wheel, relative to each other.

It will be noted that the tamping feet 11 are formed with relatively wide base portions 11a which are slotted and fit in secured or fixed relation over the rings 10 as clearly shown in FIG. 2. By reason of this feature, greater strength is given to the feet 11 than would otherwise be the case, and the relatively narrow rings 10 are stiffened and strengthened.

Other non-tapered feet 12 may be removably mounted on the feet 11 to provide a different compacting action as may be required by working conditions; the feet 12 being formed with taper-bored shanks 13 to wedgingly fit onto the feet 11 as shown in FIG. 2.

Transvers radially extending spoke-forming plates 14 (alined with the radial gussets 9) connect the different rings 10, and at their radially inner edges said plates 14 terminate some distance short of the periphery of the disc 2. The spoke plates 14 and the disc 2 and ring 8 are connected by shock absorbing units, indicated generally at 15, which are preferably as shown and described in the copending application of O. G. Barnum, Ser. No. 396,300, filed Sept. 14, 1964.

The spoke plates 14 are somewhat deeply recessed at their radially outer edges between the different rings 10 as shown at 16. This feature provides for the unobstructed passage of untamped earth or debn's between the mounting rings 10 with the advance of the implement on which the compacting wheel is mounted.

The wheel cleaning action attendant the use of the spaced foot-mounting rings 10 and the recessed spoke plates 14 is aided by means of longitudinally extending cleaner bars 17 disposed centrally between the different rings 10 and projecting into the recessed areas of said spoke plates 14. The cleaner bars 17 extend forwardly at a relatively small downward angle, as shown in FIG. 1, from under and adjacent a cross beam 18 which extends transversely of the wheel 1 and is rigid with one of the axle supporting beams 19 of the wheel.

Each cleaner bar 17 is detachably secured to the beam 18 by a bolt 20 mounted in an car 21 which projects rearwardly from the rearmost one of a pair of guide flanges 22 rigid with and depending from the beam 18 and through which the bar 17 extends. Radially out a short distance from the spoke plates 14, in a position to engage the flat faced portions of said spoke plates but normally spaced therefrom, each cleaner bar 17 is provided with a cross bar 23 as clearly shown in FIG. 2.

By reason of the features of construction of the wheel as hereinbefore described, loose earth or debris will discharge of itself from between the foot mounting rings 10 and the rows of tamping feet 11 thereon. Further, the cleaner bars 17 break up any packed earth of a mud or clay nature which would otherwise tend to accumulate etween the feet, the mounting rings and the spoke plates; such broken up earth freely dropping to the ground clear of the wheel.

The cross bars 23 serve a double purpose. They not only act to keep the side faces of the rings 10 in a clean condition, but prevent the rigidly mounted cleaner bars 17 from being possibly contacted by the rows of tamping feet should the latter, together with the par-ts on which they are mounted, tend to shift or deflect laterally to one side or the other due to the action of the shock absorbing units 15.

As earth cannot pack between the adjacent rows of tamping feet, said feet can penetrate deeper than is the case with the conventional solid drum type wheel, less power is needed to rotate the wheel, and it always remains in a relatively clean condition.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a sheepsfoot compacting wheel as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the sheepsfoot compacting wheel, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired.

A sheepsfoot compacting Wheel including a pair of axially spaced rings, radially extending transverse spoke plates connecting the rings and projecting radially inwardly therefrom in circumferentially spaced relation, said spoke plates being deeply recessed between the rings in radially outward facing relation, and a cleaner bar fixed exteriorly of the wheel and projecting between the rings substantially radially of the wheel and of a length suificient to extend into the spoke-plate recesses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

JOHN L. NACKENOF F Examiner.

N. C. BYERS, Assistant Examiner. 

